Auto Suggestions are available once you type at least 3 letters. Use up arrow (for mozilla firefox browser alt+up arrow) and down arrow (for mozilla firefox browser alt+down arrow) to review and enter to select.

Overview

#1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris introduces a Southern librarian whose bookish bent for murder gets her involved in a real-life killing spree…

Lawrenceton, Georgia, may be a growing suburb of Atlanta, but it’s still a small town at heart. Librarian Aurora “Roe” Teagarden grew up there and knows more than enough about her fellow townsfolk, including which ones share her interest in the darker side of human nature.

With those fellow crime buffs, Roe belongs to a club called Real Murders, which meets once a month to analyze famous cases. It’s a harmless pastime—until the night she finds a member dead, killed in a manner that eerily resembles the crime the club was about to discuss. And as other brutal “copycat” killings follow, Roe will have to uncover the person behind the terrifying game, one that casts all the members of Real Murders, herself included, as prime suspects—or potential victims...

About the Author

Charlaine Harris is a New York Times bestselling author for both her Sookie Stackhouse fantasy/mystery series and her Aurora Teagarden Mystery series, now a series of movies on the Hallmark Movies Channel. She has lived in the South her entire life.

Visit her on the Web at charlaineharris.com and facebook.com/CharlaineHarris.

Table of Contents

What People are Saying About This

Editorial Reviews

An ingenious plot and sufficient flow of blood keep the pages flying in Harris's ( Sweet and Deadly ) third novel, as a series of killings patterned after celebrated murders is perpetrated on the small community of Lawrenceton, Ga. Twenty-eight-year-old Aurora (Roe) Teagarden, professional librarian, belongs to the Real Murders club, a group of 12 enthusiasts who gather monthly to study famous baffling or unsolved crimes. As a meeting is to begin, Roe discovers the massacred body of a club member. She recognizes the method of slaughter as imitating the very crime she was to address that night--suddenly her life as armchair sleuth assumes an eerie reality. The murderer continues to claim victims, each in the style of a different historical killer. Roe herself becomes a target, and also attracts two admirers, Robin Crusoe, a famed mystery writer new to Lawrenceton, and club member/detective Arthur Smith. Death seems to have infused new life into her waning social calendar, an irony not lost on this pensive character. Harris draws the guilty and the innocent into an engrossing tale while inventing a heroine as capable and potentially complex as P. D. James's Cordelia Gray. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

YA-- Someone is killing the crime buffs of the Real Murders Society in Lawrenceton, Georgia. A librarian, Aurora Teagarden, sets out to catch the brutal murderer after fellow club members end up as victims. The uncanny resemblances to famous crimes challenge Roe and her two admirers, policeman Arthur Smith and mystery writer Robin Crusoe, to pursue the criminal. The lighthearted, witty handling of characters contrasts with the heightening suspense as Aurora seeks clues by searching past mysteries for the killer's identity--until she is caught in the sadistic web of terror herself. Clever pacing along with ample red herrings and judiciously placed clues keep Harris's story moving briskly. Let's hope for another fast-paced mystery featuring Aurora and her friends.-- Mary T. Gerrity, Queen Anne School, Upper Marlboro, MD

School Library Journal

Real Murders is the first adventure for Harris’s perceptive protagonist and I eagerly look forward to the second…Harris’s story alternately charms and chills, a difficult combination she manages with aplomb and brilliance.”—Award-winning author Carolyn Hart

“One of the most original premises I’ve ever come across in a mystery, and the whole book is great bloody fun.”—Barbara Paul

“An ingenious plot and sufficient flow of blood keep the pages flying in Harris’s novel…Harris draws the guilty and the innocent into an engrossing tale.”—Publishers Weekly

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

I actually picked up book 5 in this series at a secondhand store and decided I needed to read the rest - from the beginning. I love how Charlaine Harris makes you feel so close to her characters - they're like friends. Aurora does seem to find herself in some dangerous and awkward positions, but it makes the story that much more interesting. I'm really looking forward to the re-release of books 7 & 8 later this spring/summer.
I have so enjoyed this series that I've started reading the Lily Bard "Shakespeare's..." series - and I'm also planning to read the Harper Connelly series as well as the Sookie Stackhouse series (which my daughter in law is currently reading).

Tootsie_Ann

More than 1 year ago

This book was such a great read! I did not know what to expect and what was going to happen next. Aurora Teagarden is such a fun character that you just begin to love to hear what is going to happen next to her. Everything that happened was a shock and poor Aurora was caught in the middle of it all. After reading this book I went out and bought the rest of the series! If you have not read this book yet and you are looking for a fun, exciting read then I would totally suggest you pick up this book. I am sure you will fall in love with Aurora Teagarden just like I did.

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

I really enjoy Charlaine Harris' writing style and although I prefer some magic and mysticism with my mystery, the Aurora Teagarden series is a fun and easy read.

Maxie68

More than 1 year ago

Roe belongs to a reading club called Real Murders. Each member is a specialist in a certain murderer or a type of murder. When one of their members is killed, Roe is the one to find her.
Charlaine Harris tells us a lot about the southerness and the small townness of Roe. She just goes about her life and manages to solve murders, just by the way she lives her life.
She is enchanting. I bought the series (Aurora Teagarten mysteries) up to the last hardback.

willing2read

More than 1 year ago

I wish I had read these BEFORE I read the Sookie and Harper series. They are fun, well written, and a quick read when you need to escape. BUT they are very tame compared to Sookie and Harper. Inversely, those who don't want erotica and romance, this series is for you.

cabmjct

More than 1 year ago

I thought this was a well written murder mystery. I had never read anything else by Charlaine Harris, other than the Sookie Sytackhouse series. I didn't enjoy Real Murders quite as much as the Sookie books, but it is still definitely worth the read especially if you like murder mysteries.

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

Written before the Sookie Stackhouse mysteries, this is a solid, story that introduces protagonist, Aurora Teagarden. Aurora doesn't have any special powers, but the story has the same sensibilities and rhythm of the Sookie books. I've read that the Aurora books will shortly be a made-for-TV series on one of the Hallmark channels.

mroark

More than 1 year ago

I recently found this series after loving the Sookie novels. I have read all 8 novels, this being the first in the series. If you are looking for a great read, start here! I enjoyed this book as well as the others in the series!

katford11

More than 1 year ago

I am a huge fan of Charlaine Harris, but this book failed to impress. I got bored and it took me like two weeks to read the book while I can normally breeze through her books in like a day if not faster.

litelady-ajh on LibraryThing

5 months ago

Pretty good mystery... characters not as colorful as her Sookie Stackhouse series.

jshillingford on LibraryThing

5 months ago

This series has great potential. I intially was going to give it 3.5 stars since the mystery wasn't well developed, and then I thought - I enjoyed it, a lot. It's a cozy mystery with an Angela Lansbury-type sleuth. Aurora Teagraden is the librarian in a small town. So, it's a little predictable, but the character is interesting and the plots in the series do get much better. Aurora is part of a club that meets regularly to discuss real, historical murder cases. Then people start turning up dead in copy cat kills. It must be a member of the club, but who?

verenka on LibraryThing

5 months ago

Nice little cozy mystery, I simply *have* to read because the main character is a librarian.It's a nice enough story, but she is milking the stereotype very much. And while the story and the characters were well crafted, it all ended rather too abruptly for my taste and the motives behind the murders were hardly explored, considering one character is a librarian interested in true crime and the other a crime writer. I'm still curious enough to read at least another book of the series.

jimmaclachlan on LibraryThing

5 months ago

Similar to Harris' other books, but without any paranormal elements. The heroine, Aurora, is pretty upbeat & interesting. She's 28, unmarried & has an odd hobby - she's a member of a club that discusses old murders. When club members start dying, she recognizes they're reenactments of old crimes & tells the police so. They don't believe her, so she is forced into figuring out who the killer is herself, but she doesn't jump into it with both feet. Very believable the way she stumbles around & interacts with others in her small town.It won't ever be my favorite book, but for a relaxing read, it's pretty good.

samantha.1020 on LibraryThing

5 months ago

Summary from Goodreads:"Though a small town at heart, Lawrenceton, Georgia, has its dark side-and crime buffs. One of whom is librarian Aurora "Roe" Teagarden, a member of the Real Murders Club, which meets once a month to analyze famous cases. It's a harmless pastime-until the night she finds a member killed in a manner that eerily resembles the crime the club was about to discuss. And as other brutal "copycat" killings follow, Roe will have to uncover the person behind the terrifying game, one that casts all the members of Real Murders, herself included, as prime suspects-or potential victims."My Thoughts:Real Murders was an interesting beginning to this cozy mystery series and I'm looking forward to reading more! I've been wanting to begin this series every since I finished the last book in the Harper Connelly series (which I loved) by this same author. I'm happy to say that I wasn't disappointed in the least by this book and actually enjoyed it quite a lot. "Roe" is a part of a club that analyzes serial killers from the past. Unfortunately, one of the members of the club is found dead and soon it becomes very apparent that one of those same members must be the killer. Roe was such a great main character for a variety of reasons. She's a librarian for one which instantly made me like her ;) But she is also a character that is growing into herself. She starts off the book as a quieter, shy type of girl and by the end of the book she is really beginning to realize all of the possibilities that she has in front of her. I liked seeing the growth of her character throughout the story and I am looking forward to seeing it continue in future books. The mystery was a good whodunnit and for a cozy it was surprisingly grislier than I would have thought. It kept me hooked though as I tried to figure out who the killer could be. And let me tell you that I was nowhere close to being right...the ending took me by complete surprise!This book ended up to a surprisingly good read, and this is a series that I will be continuing on with. Yes...another series (sometimes I wonder what I am thinking with ALL of these series). But I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of trouble Roe manages to get herself into next. Recommended to fans of cozy mysteries!Bottom Line: A fun read that kept me guessing!Disclosure: Another lovely book checked out from my local library :)

amhamilt on LibraryThing

5 months ago

Fun book, love the heroine. I'm completely addicted!

purelush on LibraryThing

5 months ago

The best book in the series. I thought the murders were creative and the characters engaging.

ritagad on LibraryThing

5 months ago

This book really just fell flat for me. It seemed like it was trying to recreate the small town atmosphere of the Southern vampire series, but the characters and the concept was just not interesting enough. And Aurora Teagarden is simply not very interesting.

stevedore on LibraryThing

5 months ago

Sooo much discussion about what clothes to wear while solving a murder.

raypratt on LibraryThing

5 months ago

I liked this much more than I expected to, basing my preconceptions on Sookie Stackhouse, who is admittedly just not for me. Charlaine Harris has created a thoroughly likeable character who deals with entirely human monsters. I admit to being addicted to cozy murder mysteries since I read my first Miss Marple (Murder at the Vicarage) in junior high, and this is, at its core, an almost classic cozy, differing only in the craziness portion of the motive. I will definitely be hunting down the rest of the Aurora Teagarden books.

tututhefirst on LibraryThing

5 months ago

Aurora Teagarden, a librarian by day, belongs to a group of mystery aficionados known as the Real Murder club. Every month, members meet and take turns analyzing old mysteries, either real or fictional, looking at victims, murder weapons, who-dunnit, etc. When actual murders begin occurring in the town, and each murder seems to be a copy-cat of a murder previously happening someplace else, attention turns to the members of the club. Is one of them purposely acting out murders they've studied? After an attempt on Aurora (or was her mother the intended victim?) and several other strange 'clues' begin appearing, "Roe" starts to feel she may be the target. In addition to the murder aspect, Roe finds herself juggling two different romantic interests in the person of author/professor Robin Crusoe and detective Arthur Smith, who also happens to belong to the Real Murders group. The surprising climax was one that pre-disposes the reader to look for more. There are nine altogether, so I know there are more fun adventures that I can reach for when I want a good mystery, with little violence, some interesting but fairly innocent romance, and a feel-good ending.

NewsieQ on LibraryThing

5 months ago

Librarian Aurora Teagarden and her friends, who share an interest in true crime, have formed a club called Real Murders. They meet to discuss ¿ what else? ¿ real murders. It¿s innocent fun until one member is found dead just before Roe is scheduled to make a presentation to the group on the murder of Julia Wallace. And Mamie Wright¿s murder appears to be mimicking Ms. Wallace¿s by her husband. Soon more victims are littering the landscape ofLawrenceton, Georgia. Real Murders members are suspects ¿ and could become victims. Although Real Murders has many of the elements of a cozy mystery, the deaths are a bit grisly for the book to qualify as lighthearted fare. I liked it anyway and I believe all but the most sensitive cozy readers will, too. Aurora is a sweet and self-effacing heroine -- and the other denizens of Lawrenceton are great cozy characters. I especially like Roe¿s mother Aida, who is perfectly prickly. Real Murders has a slight romantic angle, but even I (not usually a fan of romance in mysteries) didn¿t feel it took too much away from the mystery. Real Murders is the first of the Aurora Teagarden mysteries, published in 1990. Berkley Prime Crime is reissuing them in mass-market paperback so a new crop of readers can enjoy all six. It was a treat for me to re-read Real Murders, and I think other ¿old¿ fans will feel the same way.Charlaine Harris, with several successful series under her belt, is one of the mystery field¿s most popular and best selling authors. After reading Real Murders again it¿s easy to see why. By Diana. First published in the Cozy Library March 3, 2008. Review based on publisher- or author-provided review copy.

nbmars on LibraryThing

5 months ago

This was only Harris¿s third book ever, and I think it¿s clear she has not yet hit her stride. Aurora Teagarden is a 28-year-old librarian in Lawrenceton, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. She belongs to a book club called Real Murders, which meets once a month to discuss famous crimes of the past. Soon, club members start dying in ways that replicate these famous crimes. Since these book club members are quite interested in such things, those who aren¿t getting killed are trying to solve the crimes.Evaluation: This story has none of the trademark features of Harris¿s writing that make her books so appealing to me: the charming evocation of life in the South; engaging portraits of quirky characters; snappy writing with humorous turns; and romantic interludes that are creatively complicated. Rather, in this book, the characters are dull, and even the living ones are mostly lifeless; the writing seems amateurish; and the romance is a yawn.On the plus side, I am impressed and amazed at her growth in subsequent books!

reannon on LibraryThing

5 months ago

First in Charlaine Harris's Aurora Teagarden amateur sleuth mysteries. I read it oujt of order, having read the 2nd-4th one and not getting the first until later. Roe is a librarian in a small town in Georgia that is becoming more of a suburb of Atlanta yet still has that small town feel. Her mother is a successful real estate businesswoman. roe belongs to Real Murders, a club that meets monthly to discuss true crime. Soon someone is murdering people and copying old true crime cases.The series is a fairly standard amateur detective series, but stands out from many simply because Harris is such a good author who creates believable characters. Her other two series are more exotic (Sookie Stackhouse and Harper Connelly), but this one works well too and she continues to publish a Roe book regularly.

onyx95 on LibraryThing

5 months ago

A club that reviewed and discussed old real murder crimes was the setting of the first real murder that could be connected to the group. Finding the body and knowing the need to cooperate with the police, Aurora ¿Roe¿ Teagarden as well as the rest of the clubs members endured the scrutiny of the investigation process. Then there was more murders, the realization that the current murders imitated the older murders left everyone in the Real Murder club either a victim or a suspect.This is an introduction to Roe Teagarden and the Real Murder club members. There are so many characters and some of them are not fully developed yet but a great start for this as a series. I was surprised by the ending and the ¿who done it¿ part, there are several suspects and several hints or clues that were misleading as well as a few that were not. A quick and easy read, a mellow suspense and not too graphic with the crime scenes.

madamejeanie on LibraryThing

5 months ago

Aurora Teagarden is a woman who is a prime example of someone whose name simply does not fit. Roe is small in stature, but could never be accused of being dainty. Short, with brown curly hair, glasses, and a love for books, Roe works at the library in her small town and is a member of a rather unusual group of people who are all aficionados of real murders. This rather eclectic group of people meets once a month at the VFW hall to discuss famous and not-so-famous old murder cases over coffee and cookies, taking turns in presenting details of the case of the month. And on this particular night, Aurora is the presenter, so she is just a bit nervous before the meeting starts. Anxious to round everybody up so she can get started, Roe goes to search the building for a missing member, only to find her dead body in the VFW kitchen. While that is shocking enough, Roe realizes immediately that Mamie Wright's body has been "arranged" in a manner that eerily resembles the crime the club was about to discuss. And this is just the first victim. More Real Murder Club members turn up murdered in methods that copy other famous murders of the past, and each murder weapon seems to implicate yet another club member. Roe teams up with another club member, police detective Arthur Smith, to figure out just who it is that seems to have such an intense grudge against every member of this odd little club. And they both know they have to hurry because time seems to be running out for all of them.This is the third series written by Charlaine Harris that I've started. I like the way Ms. Harris writes, but for some reason, this book didn't have the same bite to it that the other two series had (the Shakespeare series and the Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire novels). I'll keep reading, but really didn't find this book to be anything more than average.

There's no rest for the weary Aggie Sloan-Wilcox and her minister husband, who were praying
for a relaxing weekend until a member of their flock went missing. Joe Wagner, president of Emerald Springs's food bank, disappears, and Aggie discovers his ...

Clare Henry’s snowy Star City, Utah, oasis turns deadly in the third Dangerous Type Mystery
from the New York Times bestselling author of Bookman Dead Style and To Helvetica and Back. SOMETHING’S AFOOT.... The visit of quirky world-famous horror ...

In the penultimate novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series, Sookie Stackhouse must
work with her first love to clear her current undead flame of murder...Felipe de Castro, the vampire King of Louisiana (and Arkansas and Nevada), is ...

The voices of the dead become inescapable clues for lightning-struck sleuth Harper Connelly in this
“winning series” (Booklist) of murder—and beyond—from #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris…Harper Connelly heads to Doraville, North Carolina to find a missing ...

Cousins and best friends, Clara and Stephanie Quinn run The Raven's Nest Bookstore, where people
go to find their most coveted reads. But they have no idea it's the psychically-gifted Clara who's reading them...The bookstore has made an enemy of ...

In Chinatown to deliver a baby, Sarah Brandt meets a group of women she might
otherwise never have come across: Irish girls who, after alighting on Ellis Island alone, have married Chinese men in the same predicament. But with bigotry ...

A health spa complete with tofu turkey and Dress for Sexcess lectures is the last
place school psychologist Skye Denison wants to spend Thanksgiving. But when her best friend Trixie Frayne convinces her to take a complimentary weekend at the ...

Still recovering from breaking up with her boyfriend and alienating half the people in town,
Skye Denison has sworn off men—but she hires sexy contractor Beau Hamilton to renovate the old house she inherited. After all, who can ignore his ...